The cruise also provided valuable information in the context of Good Environmental Status (GES), Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) and provided new insights on how to sustainably manage deep-sea ecosystems. During the RV Pelagia 64PE456 Terceira 2019 cruise, we performed 8 Hopper towed-camera system dives, an HD video platform specially designed to be operated on board of the RV Pelagia. From this, 4 dives were conducted in deep sandy bottom areas known to be important foraging grounds for marine mammals and 4 in the São Jorge de Fora seamount. This was the second time we sampled this poorly known seamount south of Terceira Island. In total, we collected 7:40 hours of video covering 4.5km of mostly sandy bottom in the abyssal plain and about 5:20 hours, covering 3.6km of the seamount seafloor.

Another example of a long-lasting collaboration with scientists from the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ). This is the second time deep-sea scientists from IMAR Instituto do Mar and Okeanos University of the Azores have joined Fleur Visser cruises. The RV Pelagia cruise 64PE456 aimed to continue exploring the deep-sea areas of the Azores EEZ, namely around Terceira island and São Jorge de For a seamount; namely to (i) characterize benthic communities inhabiting seamounts in the Azores, such as São Jorge de Fora seamount, (ii) identify new areas that fit the FAO Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem criteria; and (iii) to contribute with additional data to address patterns and drivers of the distribution of deep-sea benthic biodiversity in the Azores region.